Men of Bollywood 2023: Year-end review

Rocky Randhawa, played by Ranveer Singh, is a seemingly testosterone-like character, a sharp contrast to the effeminate Chandan played by Thota Roy Chowdhury. His arc is completed when he learns that he can be like Chandan. Devasish Makhija’s wonderful Joram had Dasul, a disenfranchised tribal man played by Manoj Bajpayee. He is on the run with his young daughter and his survival instincts take over. He is devoid of all traditional masculinity, and there is something primal about his being. And, of course, there was Vanga’s unabashed paean to Ranbir Kapoor’s body hair, ‘Animal’.

According to Twitter threads and Reddit discussions, Ranbir Kapoor, his body, hair, and underwear in Animal are all a response to the “hyperfeminization” of men in Bollywood movies. What does it mean that your wife will leave you once you slap her (thappad)? How can you make films (Veere Di Wedding, Thank You For Coming) about female orgasms when it is considered offensive if a man is shown masturbating? Is it? The cacophony of what’s up and false equivalency meant that (male) Indian audiences were able to air their opinions (and underwear) without worrying about being canceled or criticized for being a man and being a man. It almost makes you believe you’re looking back wistfully to the “good old days.” . In Animal, Vanga plays that script so faithfully that it almost seems to invite us to come to him.

But then, it would be unfair to say that Kapoor’s ‘Animal’ and SRK’s ‘Jawan’ are the only men to be admired in Bollywood this year. In Avinash Arun’s Three of Us, the men, Swanand Kirkeer and Jaydeep Allawat, look like they stepped out of a feminist guidebook to finding the perfect partner. They are supportive, kind, and emotionally available. They dress so that they blend into the background, and only when they smile, laugh, blush, or display other “feminine” emotions do they come into the foreground of the beautifully photographed Konkan landscape. It emerges. Even in the more mainstream Satyaprem Ki Katha, Kartik Aryan (remember Pyaar Ka Panchnama?), the poster boy for feminist rants, is forced to cook, clean, and earn money. A man who is forced to take care of his mother and sister, and then struggles with the trauma of finding love in a woman.

Unlike older films that followed the same template (such as Nauka Biwi Ka), the character played by Aryan is never ashamed of not being a traditional breadwinner, and is admired for being in touch with his emotions. has been done. In 12th Fail, traditional masculinity is never accepted, if not outright ridiculed. Massey’s Manoj Sharma is never given the kind of comeback that draws applause, even in the important UPSC interview scene. He is made to look and feel almost asexual for much of the movie. His tenacious dedication to his cause is not garnished with sexy revenge stories. It’s just a guy striving for a better life.

With such diverse depictions of masculinity, it seems as though Bollywood is having a year-end roundtable conversation with itself to see how far it can push its buttons. Will he return to celebrating the “alpha male” that he kept claiming to be featured in Animal, or will he choose to tell stories of men of all shades and stripes? I have a feeling that if things continue like this, we’ll reach a dead end. And we will be richer because of it.

premankur.biswas@indianexpress.com